The Kid
by Rose2000
Summary: Jason gets more than he bargained for during a patrol. Unsure what to do, he calls his older brother for help.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own these characters or anything else that belongs to DC._

Jason opened his bedroom door, seeing the small child in the centre of his double bed. The child, dressed in one of Jason's t-shirts, hadn't spoken so Jason didn't know his name or age. For now, Jason was going to call the kid, Kid and guessed that Kid had to be somewhere between four and six years old. Seeing that Kid was sleeping, Jason closed the door, leaving it slightly ajar, letting the little boy get some rest.

He saved Kid about two hours ago. Jason had chased down a drug dealer responsible for the death of numerous working girls. The dealer had Kid with him making Jason believe Kid was the child of one of the dead girls and had been subsequently abducted by the dealer. Jason had chased them to the docks and before he could apprehend them, the dealer had chucked Kid into the harbour. Forgetting the dealer and not wanting to see an innocent child die, Jason dived in after him. Kid had his arms wrapped around Jason's neck and refused to let go even after Jason had climbed out of the water. By then the dealer was gone and Jason didn't want to leave the traumatised child alone, so took him home until he could come up with a good enough plan.

He didn't know what would happen to Kid in the future, but now the child was in Jason's care and he was going to act like a responsible adult, or at least call someone who was.

"Dick," he said as his older brother answered his phone.

"Jason, how'd you get this number," he said, mumbling as if he had just woken up.

Jason ignored the question. "You know how to look after kids, right?"

"What?"

"Kids. You looked after the Demon spawn and he's sort of a kid, so you must know how to, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I sort of did a Bruce," he said.

"Wait, are you saying you've got a kid with you?"

"I saved him from a dealer and I couldn't abandon him."

"Christ, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't want to send the kid into care, plus I'm guessing his mother was killed by the dealer so he could be a key witness and he was scared and…"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming over. Are you still in the apartment near Knight's bar?"

"How the hell do you know that?"

"How do you have my number?"

"Yes, I'm still there," Jason said, "and you don't have to come over."

"Of course I do. What's the boy doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Is he hurt?"

"Not from what I could see, but he hasn't spoken so I'm not sure."

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Do you need anything picking up?"

"I'm good," Jason said. "Don't tell the Bat about this. Kid's scared enough without that glare aimed at him."

"Wasn't going to. Look, I'll see you in ten little bro," Dick said as he hung up.

Jason put his phone in his pocket. He ran his hand through his hair and turned around. He paused, seeing Kid standing in the doorway of his bedroom. The t-shirt the boy wore hung to almost his ankles and the grey material made the boy's tanned skin look darker.

"Hey," Jason said, trying to make his voice sound upbeat. "Are you okay?"

Kid said nothing. He looked around the kitchen/living room, until he eyes found the Red Hood helmet resting on a kitchen counter. He looked back at Jason and then back to the helmet.

"Bit shocking to see my face under that, right?" he said, knowing that he looked a lot younger than people expected. He went and picked the helmet up. "Here, do you want a closer look?"

Kid took a step back and then tilted his head to the side. He stared at the helmet for a moment and then took a step forward. Jason finished the distance between them and knelt in front of Kid. He tipped the helmet upside down, showing the inside.

"See, it's got a little computer in it, meaning it's really clever." He tipped it back up. "Do you want to try it on?"

Kid hesitated and then nodded, smiling for the first time since Jason had found him. Jason smiled to and placed the helmet over the boy's head, not securing it in place and being careful not to let go of it.

"Be careful, it's heavy."

Kid placed his hand in front of his face, waving it in front of the eye pieces. After a moment, he moved his hands to his hips, placed his feet shoulder width apart and puffing his chest out – a little heroic pose that looked ridiculous in the oversized shirt.

"Okay, tiny Red Hood," Jason said. "Just to let you know, my… friend is coming round. He's not scary and is perhaps the biggest dork you'll ever meet, so you don't have to worry, okay?"

Kid nodded. He tapped the helmet, indicating he wanted it off. Jason removed it and placed it beside him.

"Th-thank you," Kid said, his voice small and squeaky.

"No problem kiddo," he said, comparing this to the first time he was in the Batcave, although not as extreme or awesome as Jason's experience, he knew it was something Kid wasn't going to forget. Hell, it got the kid speaking.

"What's your name?" Kid asked.

Jason had told him earlier, but Kid had been a bit out of it so probably couldn't remember. "Jason Todd," he said. "What's yours?"

"Tyler Rowe," he said.

Jason nodded. Rowe was the surname of one of the last woman the dealer killed. His theory was gaining strength.

"Tyler, good name," Jason said. He hesitated for a moment and then asked. "Tyler, was your mom called Hayley?"

Tyler nodded and bit his lip. "She's dead."

"I'm sorry. I know it sucks. My mom died when I was little too."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know how you're feeling, so does my friend. His parents died when he was young as well." Jason leant closer to Tyler. "His name is Dick." Tyler raised his eyebrows and mouthed the name, afraid to say the supposed swear word out loud. Jason laughed. "I know. Like I said, dork."

There was a knock at the door. Tyler jumped, but Jason just placed his on his shoulder, calming him.

"That'll be Dick. He's not scary, I promise."

Tyler nodded and stood by the bedroom door, ready to hide behind it if he needed to. Jason stood and walked to the front door. He looked through the peephole, seeing his brother's face glaring back at him. Jason unlatched the door and opened it.

"Hey Dick." He stepped aside. Dick walked in, stopping when he saw Tyler.

"Oh, hi," he said.

"Hello."

"Tyler, this is Dick. Dick, Tyler."

"You have a funny name," said Tyler.

Dick laughed. "It's been said." He walked over to the boy and picked up the helmet. He glanced back at Jason, who just shrugged.

"Jason's the Red Hood," Tyler said.

"I know."

"He said I was the tiny Red Hood."

"What?"

Jason closed the door. He walked over to Dick and snatched the helmet. "He looked cute with it on."


	2. Chapter 2

In the morning, Dick went out to get some supplies. Little Tyler had one change of clothes, but after the dip in the harbour they weren't exactly wearable and he couldn't go around in Jason's t-shirts. The boy' confidence from last night, when he proudly declared that he was the tiny Red Hood, had gone. Although waking up in a strange bed, in a strange room after a traumatic night would have panicked Dick at his age now, let alone if he was a small boy. It had taken Jason's promise for him to wear the helmet again that got him out of the bedroom and to sit on the sofa. He wore it for five minutes, before Dick explained that he had to take it off so he could have breakfast. When Dick left, Tyler sat on the sofa, his feet dangling over the side with the helmet to the side of him and a bowl of cereal resting on his knees.

Dick stretched when he made it to the store. His back clicked, stiff from spending the night on Jason's lumpy sofa. He didn't get much sleep and neither did Jason, who was on the floor with a single blanket and pillow. They watched the bedroom door, just in case Tyler needed them. He wasn't sure if Tyler got much sleep either, but that was something to worry about later because now Tyler needed clothes and maybe even some toys.

In the end he brought a couple of change of clothes, (including a t-shirt with the Nightwing logo on it and a bright red hoodie), a couple of toy cars, a colouring book and some crayons. When he got back to Jay's, he found his brother standing in the corner and counting loudly, while Tyler hid under a desk. When Tyler saw Dick, he put his finger to his lips and shushed him. Dick nodded and put the shopping on the sofa.

"… Twenty! Coming, ready or not!" Jason turned around, a massive grin on his face. "Dickie, have you seen Tyler?"

"You lost him?" Dick said making himself sound exasperated. Behind him, he heard a muffled giggle. "You had one job!"

"I know, I know, just help me look for him."

"Fine. Check over there." He pointed in an area in the opposite direction to where Tyler was. "I'll check over there." He pointed towards the bathroom.

"Good idea." Jason tiptoed around the room. "Tyler, where are you?"

"Tyler?" Dick said, winking at the boy as he looked around. He was surprised at Jason, not expecting him to be so good with kids. Although to be fair, the only time Dick had seen him around kids, was with Damian and although Jason hadn't been a good place then, it still caused a high level of apprehension in Dick. He put it down to Jason's crappy childhood and the fact that Tyler's life had similar parallels that got to Jay's paternal side. There was no way in hell that Jason would let another kid go through what he went through.

"I found you!" Jason said, crouching beside the table. Tyler giggled and crawled out of his hiding place.

"Your turn," he said jumping up and down.

"Maybe later. For now, Dick has brought you some presents."

"Presents?"

"I know right. What have you got him, Dick?"

Dick walked over to the shopping. He dug out some of the stuff. "Here's some clothes, a colouring book and some cars." He handed Tyler the bag. "Here you go."

"Thank you."

"You're quite all right. Do you want to try on the clothes and then you and Jay can race the cars."

"Okay."

Dick took Tyler into the bathroom. He was glad the clothes fit and Tyler was so pleased with both the Nightwing shirt and the hoodie that Dick was worried he would never take them off. When dressed, he ran out with the hood up.

"Jason, Jason, look."

Jason, who had been taken the cars out of the packaging, looked up. "Well, look at you."

"I'm the Red Hood."

"Sort of." Jason unzipped the hoodie partway and saw the t-shirt. "Nightwing?"

"Yeah, he's cool. Have you ever met him?"

Jason smirked at Dick. "We've had our run ins. Kicked me off a train once."

Dick rolled his eyes. "I heard you dressed like him once and that it didn't end well."

He almost laughed as Jason stopped himself from swearing. Jason took a deep breath. "I thought me and Nightwing agreed not to talk about that."

"I heard you agreed nothing."

"Do you know Nightwing?" Tyler asked, staring at Dick. "You know the Red Hood, after all?"

"We've met and if you're good, you might meet him too."

"Cool. What about Batman and Robin?"

"We know them as well."Jason held up the cars. "Red one or blue one."

"Red one," he said as if it was obvious. Jason handed him the car and soon the two of them were on the floor, racing. After a while Tyler paused, sat back and asked, "So what's Batman like."

"Mainly grumpy," said Dick as Jason said, "Self-righteous know-it-all."

"Oh. He looks scary."

"At the moment it's Robin you have to watch out for," Jason said. Dick rolled his eyes.

He sat on the edge of the sofa and watched them play. He needed to stop it soon, needed to discuss it with Tyler what he and Jason had planned for him. Tyler couldn't stay with Jason as there was no way Jason – a legally dead, ex-Arkham patient – could get custody, but Dick didn't want to separate them, so he hoped the boy liked the plan.

"So Tyler," Dick said, "You like us, right?"

Tyler nodded. "Jason's fun and you have a funny name."

Jason snorted. "It's true."

"Right, so you would like to stay with us then?"

"Yeah." He looked around. "But, it's a bit small here."

"We were talking about that earlier, weren't we Jay?"

"Yeah, we were. Dick's place is big though."

Tyler frowned. "How big?"

"You'd get your own room," said Dick, knowing that was a big hook for any kid.

"Will you be there?" Tyler asked Jason.

Jason looked up at Dick and then at Tyler, "No, but Dick works a lot so I'll there to hang out with you when he's not there."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Dick smiled. Now that Tyler had agreed to that, they had to make it legal. It would involve taking the boy to the police and becoming his guardian that way. He didn't want to inflict that on Tyler, but Dick hoped that by having been Damian's guardian and having once been in a situation similar to Tyler's – a recently orphaned child who also a key witness in their parents' murder case – that he could become Tyler's guardian quickly. Plus he did know a lovely lady that if he asked ever so sweetly, would hack into databases to get through the process quickly.

"Tyler," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Before you stay at mine, we have to make sure it's allowed."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to become your guardian. It's all official grownup stuff, but we have to do it."

"Will that take long?"

"It shouldn't."

"Okay. Are you going to find my daddy as well?"

"Your daddy?" Dick asked.

"You know who he is?" Jason asked.

Tyler nodded. He flicked his car forward a few inches. "He killed Mommy and threw me into the sea."

"Wait, your Dad's that guy? Kyle Young?" Jason asked. That made the investigation more complicated.

Tyler nodded. "Please don't send me to stay with him. He has to go to jail."

"Jail?"

"All bad people have to go to jail," Tyler said.

"Yeah, but… Is that what you want?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll catch him and send him to jail."

Dick looked at Jason. He had guessed that his brother had been planning on shooting the man. It was impossible to get Jason to change his plans and if you tried, you normally ended up being shot at. Who had thought a child would have calmed Jay's murderous rage. If Dick had known that years ago, well he wouldn't have given Jason a child, but he would have thought of something. A dog, maybe – it had, after all, helped with Damian.

"Dick, you look like you're thinking and it's scaring me," Jason said.

"Oh, it doesn't matter." He stood up, taking his phone out of his pocket. "I've got to get make a call quickly."

Jason leant against the sofa with his arms crossed. "Would this call happen to be to a pretty young red head?"

"It might be," Dick said as he searched for Barbara's number.

"If it is, keep it PG. I doubt Tyler would like to hear you two flirt."

"Shut up and play with your cars."


End file.
